In eukaryotic cells, genomic DNA is packaged into thousands to millions of repeating structures called nucleosomes. Nucleosomes consist of a central histone core wrapped by ~146 base pairs (bp) of DNA, and these disk-like cylindrical structures are the basic packaging unit of chromosomes. Given the intrinsic nature of nucleosomes to restrict access to DNA, nucleosome packaging must be continually reorganized or remodeled in response to DNA replication, repair, recombination, and transcription.

In the Bowman lab, we are interested in understanding a class of enzymes dedicated to reorganizing nucleosomes throughout the genome, called chromatin remodelers. We use a combination of biochemistry and structural biology to understand the regulation and action of chromatin remodelers at a molecular level.